Archive for the ‘Internet’ Category

This is another topic of interest of mine, there has been much said about the topic of illegal downloads in the past few months but believe it or not the law on the subject is far from clear. The only categories which are well defined are child pornography (Child Trafficking And Pornography Act, 1998) and Incitement to Hatred (Prohibition Of Incitement To Hatred Act, 1989). I actually rang a few agencies and the Department of Justice today to gain further clarification and was eventually put through to the Internet safety office and basically given the answer that wasn’t a list of specifically banned ” items ” but operated on the principle that if it’s illegal offline it certainly isn’t legal online.

That really cleared the matter up for me (ha-ha-ha).

Well I rang the Irish film censor office and was directed towards their website www.ifco.ie were i got the following

The Act, which runs to nearly seventy pages, provides among its detailed provisions that the Director of Film Classification shall certify a video work as fit for viewing, unless:

it would be likely to cause persons to commit a crime

it would be likely to stir up hatred against a group of persons on account of their race, colour, nationality, religion, ethnic or national origins, membership of the travelling community or sexual orientation

it would tend to deprave or corrupt because it is obscene or indecent

it depicts acts of gross violence or cruelty (including mutilation and torture) towards humans or animals

It also provides for the issuing of Wholesale and Retail Video Licenses and it sets out a range of relevant offences and penalties.

So all you have to do is define “obscene” and “indecent”, answers on a postcard please.

Here is a section of the Video Recordings Act 1989, on what powers the police have in the matter and what legal sanctions the accused may face.

If a justice of the District Court or a Peace Commissioner is satisfied on the sworn information of a member of the Garda Síochána not below the rank of sergeant that there are reasonable grounds for suspecting that—

( a ) an offence under this Act or an offence referred to in section 16 (2) of this Act has been or is being committed on or at any premises or other place, and

( b ) evidence that the offence has been or is being committed is on or at those premises or that place,

he may issue a warrant under his hand authorising any member of the Garda Síochána, accompanied by any other members of the Garda Síochána, at any time or times within one month from the date of the issue of the warrant, on production if so requested of the warrant, to enter, if need be by force, and search the premises or other place specified in the warrant and—

(i) to seize anything found there that he believes on reasonable grounds may be required to be used in evidence in any proceedings for an offence under this Act or an offence referred to in section 16 (2) of this Act, and

(ii) to require any person found there to give him his name and address.

A person guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable—

( a ) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding £1,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both, or

( b ) on conviction on indictment, to a fine or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years or to both.